Customer Reviews

Carpe Demon

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Carpe Demon is an enjoyable read. The setting is modern suburbia, but demons exist and can possess the recently deceased or those willing to ally with them. Our heroine is a retired demon hunter, pulled out of her suburban life to fight a powerful foe.

The _Buffy_ influences are evident, but well handled. It is "horror", in the sense of including demons, but there are no graphic descriptions of death, injuries, or foul evil. There is some mention of sex between the married protagonist and her husband, which is discretely handled). The fight scenes are brief. The book is suitable for, tho perhaps not interesting to, a teenage reader.

For the experienced mystery reader, the puzzle, clues, and red-herrings will be obvious too soon. This reader found herself impatiently waiting for Kate to figure out the problem at several points.

I found the the setting and the situations a bit too akin to Buffy and the underlying puzzle weak. I'd recommend it as beach reading from the library or used book bin, but not at full price.

A fun read that starts out better, much, than it finishes. Story threads are pretty abruptly wrapped up. Early scenes are especially funny and better written. I enjoyed this, though, I just wanted it to be better. Kinda wished it had been in smaller paperback form instead of the pricer version. I'll get the next in the series from the library.

Kate Connor thought she'd put her demon hunting days behind her. She'd lost a husband and had a teenage daughter from her first marriage. Now happily remarried with a young child, she was focused on getting her daughter through high school, her son potty trained and helping her husband get elected county attorney. What could possibly go wrong?

A senior citizen demon crashing through your kitchen window just before a party is not the way Kate expected to find out that demons are invading her town. Then she finds that budget cuts have severely reduced the demon hunting group and she's basically on her own -- though the church will send someone to do research. So now Kate has to hone her rusty demon hunting skills and pick up some of the dutes the support teams used to do without her daughter or husband find out. But it seems a demon might be after her family and she's going to have to take charge and that might mean bring in some untrained help -- her friends.

This books was in turns funny, hilarious, frustrating, and sad. There is so much of a the daily life of a stay at home mom and the problems of everyone thinking your day is your own. Stir in demon hunting/killing, a drugged out senior demon hunter, a husband who is acting weird and things take off.

This is not a serious book but it is fun.

Carpe Demon is a contender in the supernatural tough-chick genre--in this case combined with mommy lit! Kate is a retired demon hunter who gets pulled back into the game when a demon with a plan arrives in her quiet little town. At first Kate tries to avoid the situation but when a demon comes crashing through her kitchen window she must defend her family while adjusting her toddler to day care, supervising her teen daughter's mall excursions and entertaining her husband's business contacts.

This is a promising beginning to a series. Kenner crafts a fun little tale in an alternate universe where demons live alongside humans and the Vatican trains young people to become demon hunters. Her characters are lively and real. Tension is created in the story by keeping the protagonist's demon hunter identity secret from her family. This device works though all the questions about why this is really necessary come up for the reader and can be a little frustrating. A minor quibble is some spelling typos--vial for vile, and hoard for horde. It seems good editing is hard to find these days! But hey--this is a fun read so let the literary analysis go and enjoy it!

I was really excited about this book when I found it at the used bookstore. It looked right up my alley; I love fast-paced books about the paranormal and the everyday people who might end up interacting with them.

But this book was unfortunately kind of a dozer. The storyline was pretty light and didn't capture my imagination, the character development was weak and I didn't feel at all connected to the characters, and the pacing of it all was just too slow. I got through it, but felt like I'd just spent an inordinate amount of time for very little return.

Don't get me wrong, it was pleasant enough, but usually during and after reading a book of this sort, I think about the characters and the story occasionally and wonder what will happen and imagine things on my own in that world, and the world created here was just too boring to hold my interest. The book could have fit all of the plot and character development into a book a third of the size.

I have the second book here and after finishing the first one, I am not sure I will bother reading the second. I just don't care enough.

Can you imagine what life would have been like for Buffy Summers if she could have retired from the slayer game and become a wife and mother? If you've ever wondered what life would have been like for her, "Carpe Demon" is the book for you! Kate Conner is Buffy Summers all grown up. Living in the suburbs of California with her husband and two children, Kate has it all. That is, until a demon comes crashing through her kitchen window.

Kate is completely unprepared for the attack. She's been retired for 15 years. She manages to slay the aggressive ghoul and then hides him in her pantry! What follows is a hysterical tale of Kate being called out of retirement to handle a situation with a demon called Goramesh, while trying to get her kids to school and keep her secret identity under wraps from her family.

This book was completely loveable. Kate Conner is a fantastic character that the reader can easily related to. The story is punchy and original, the writing style is easy, and the novel is a super fast read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good demon/witch/vampire mystery!

Trained in the Vatican, Kate became a Level Four demon hunter. Her kill rate one of the top until she met her match. Kate fell in love with her slaying peer Eric who returned her deepest feelings. They married, retired, and relocated to San Diablo, California. A demon hunter retiring is rare, but they do the unheard of; they even have a child Allie.

Allie is fourteen and Eric is dead while Kate has remarried and has a terrible two Timmy that is a result of her second marriage to attorney Stuart Connor, who is running for a County seat. Kate is a contented suburban soccer mom whose slayer days seem like a childhood dream. That changes when High Demon Goramesh "the decimator" visits her town. Now Kate is battling a demon horde that senses she is a hunter. Goramesh knows hunters kill if not killed.

Mindful of Geena Davis' Long Kiss Goodnight and Buffy, CARPE DEMON: ADVENTURES OF A DEMON-HUNTING SOCCER MOM is an amusing horror romance that grips the audience once the first demon arrives in the supermarket. Kate is a terrific heroine who is contented with the PTA, but soon has to use her latent skills to battle demon invaders who assault her house and threaten her children even while her spouse wonders what is going on. Amusing at times, Julie Kenner provides a fun otherworldly thriller that readers will treasure as they root for the soccer mom to defeat the demon horde.

Harriet Klausner

I did not come to this book with high expectations. But, once I started reading it, I found it impossible to put down. After a marathon reading session, I finished the book and realized that I had highly enjoyed it. Kenner's writing style is visual and it is very easy to see the events of this book as a movie (which is why it is listed on IMDB as being in production). Her characters are entertaining and her storyline is well developed. However, this book did read as if there would be a sequel, as some interesting questions did arise (how did Eric die?). Entertaining, and if there is a sequel, it will be on my list.

This book has a great premise, but the characters are one dimentional and the plot overly simple. You can see the ending from a mle away and the chateracters never really develop. As a fan of Mary Janice Davidson Kim Harrison and Laurel K. Hamilton, this really pales in comparison. There's almost nothing in the book that is 'dark' and it's almost a Christain demon story. (For those offended by the sex in the Anita Blake books, this might be the one for you.) The best scenes in the book are between Kate and her teen daugher. Too bad, wonderful premise.

It was a cute fluff book, a quick read. The characters were likable and, given the premise, believable. There was a touch of mystery, a lot of action, and some decent wit. The writing style was good but casual, drawing you into the book. And once you get to the end you're able to see all the clues and how the whole thing wraps up neatly.

If you're a fan of the `humorous horror' genre (books like Undead and Unwed) I think you'd enjoy this. It's not earth-shattering or spectacularly innovative, but it is fun.